Inspection of the Engineered FhuA [Delta]C/[Delta]4L Protein Nanopore by Polymer Exclusion

• Published in: Biophysical journal 2012-11, Vol.103 (10), p.2115
• Main Authors: Niedzwiecki, David J, Mohammad, Mohammad M, Movileanu, Liviu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biophysics; Molecular structure; Molecules; Nanotechnology; Polyethylene glycol; Proteins; Tissue engineering
• ISSN: 0006-3495; 1542-0086

Extensive engineering of protein nanopores for biotechnological applications using native scaffolds requires further inspection of their internal geometry and size. Recently, we redesigned ferric hydroxamate uptake component A (FhuA), a 22-β-stranded protein containing an N-terminal 160-residue cork domain (C). The cork domain and four large extracellular loops (4L) were deleted to obtain an unusually stiff engineered FhuA ...C/...4L nanopore. We employed water-soluble poly(ethylene glycols) and dextran polymers to examine the interior of FhuA ...C/...4L. When this nanopore was reconstituted into a synthetic planar lipid bilayer, addition of poly(ethylene glycols) produced modifications in the single-channel conductance, allowing for the evaluation of the nanopore diameter. Here, we report that FhuA ...C/...4L features an approximate conical internal geometry with the cis entrance smaller than the trans entrance, in accord with the asymmetric nature of the crystal structure of the wild-type FhuA protein. Further experiments with impermeable dextran polymers indicated an average internal diameter of ~2.4 nm, a conclusion we arrived at based upon the polymer-induced alteration of the access resistance contribution to the nanopore's total resistance. Molecular insights inferred from this work represent a platform for future protein engineering of FhuA that will be employed for specific tasks in biotechnological applications. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)